The excitement of children seeing the wonders of nature at Coho Bon Voyage on Sunday was infectious. Everybody attending, Bowen community members and visitors from the mainland alike, could feel their vibrant energy.
Metro Vancouver Parks had an interactive display and salmon lifecycle obstacle course for parents and their children to play on. Albert Schaly and his daughters showed participants the many insects that live in Bowen creeks and explained how they are essential elements of our healthy riparian habitat. Volunteers of the Bowen Island Fish & Wildlife Club (BIFWC) made sure that all the children, young and old, released the last of this season’s coho fry into nearby Terminal Creek. There were many smiles and even more laughs.
Coho Bon Voyage was the culmination of another successful year for BIFWC volunteers who operate the Terminal Creek Salmon Hatchery in Crippen Park under the supervision of Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO). Over 98 per cent of the chum and coho eyed salmon eggs we received from DFO were incubated and released as healthy fry into Bowen creeks and the ocean; an excellent survival rate that dedicated salmon enhancement volunteers can be proud of. The hatchery is now closed until next fall but coho will thrive all year in the following Bowen creeks: Terminal, Killarney, Explosives, and Grafton.
The BIFWC would like to thank the Bowen community for supporting wild salmon and protecting wild salmon habitat.
Have a great summer!
